Tuesday
My dear Sons:...On Monday morning came the dear Miss Berrys,to beg me to come that evening to join their circle.They have always the best people in London about them,young as well as old.
The old and the middle-aged are more attended to here than with us,where the young are all in all.As Hayward said to me the other evening,"it takes time to make PEOPLE,like cathedrals,"and Mr.
Rogers and Miss Berry could not have been what they are now,forty years ago.A long life of experience in the midst constantly of the highest and most cultivated circles,and with several generations of distinguished men gives what can be acquired in no other way.Mr.
Rogers said to me one day:"I have learnt more from men that from BOOKS,and when I used to be in the society of Fox and other great men of that period,and they would sometimes say 'I have always thought so and so,'then I have opened my ears and listened,for Isaid to myself,now I shall get at the treasured results of the experience of these great men."This little saying of Mr.Rogers expresses precisely my own feelings in the society of the venerable and distinguished here.With us society is left more to the crudities of the young than in England.The young may be interesting and promise much,but they are still CRUDE.The elements,however fine,are not yet completely assimilated and brought to that more perfect tone which comes later in life.
Monday,April 12th ...On Saturday I went with Sir William and Lady Molesworth to their box in the new Covent Garden opera,which has been opened for the first time this week.There I saw Grisi and Alboni and Tamburini in the "Semiramide."It was a new world of delight to me.
Grisi,so statuesque and so graceful,delights the eye,the ear,and the soul.She is sculpture,poetry,and music at the same time....Mr.Bancroft has been received with great cordiality in Paris.He has been three times invited to the Palace,and Guizot and Mignet give him access to all that he wants in the archives,and he passes his evenings with all the eminent men and beautiful women of Paris.
Guizot,Thiers,Lamartine,Cousin,Salvandi,Thierry,he sees,and enjoys all.They take him to the salons,too,of the Faubourg St.
Germain,among the old French aristocracy,and to innumerable receptions.
Wednesday To-morrow I go to the Drawing-Room alone,and to complete the climax,the Queen has sent us an invitation to dine at the Palace to-morrow,and I must go ALONE for the FIRST TIME.If I live through it,I will tell you all about it;but is it not awkward in the extreme?
Friday Morning At eight o'clock in the evening I drove to the Palace.My dress was my currant-colored or grosseille velvet with a wreath of white Arum lilies woven into a kind of turban,with green leave and bouquet to match,on the bertha of Brussels lace.I was received by a servant,who escorted me through a long narrow corridor the length of Winthrop Place and consigned me to another who escorted me in his turn,through another wider corridor to the foot of a flight of stairs which I ascended and found another servant,who took my cloak and showed me into the grand corridor or picture gallery;a noble apartment of interminable length;and surrounded by pictures of the best masters.General Bowles,the Master of the Household,came forward to meet me,and Lord Byron,who is one of the Lords in Waiting.I found Madam Lisboa already arrived,and soon came in Lord and Lady Palmerston,the Duke of Norfolk,the Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter,Lord and Lady Dalhousie,Lord Charles Wellesley,son of the Duke of Wellington,Lady Byron,and Mr.
Hallam.We sat and talked as at any other place,when at last the Queen was announced.The gentlemen ranged themselves on one side,and we on the other,and the Queen and Prince passed through,she bowing,and we profoundly curtseying.As soon as she passed the Marquis of Exeter came over and took Madam Lisboa,and Lord Dalhousie came and took me.The Queen and Prince sat in the middle of a long table,and I was just opposite the Prince,between Lord Exeter and Lord Dalhousie,who is the son of the former Governor of Nova Scotia,was in the last ministry,and a most agreeable person.
I talked to my neighbors as at any other dinner,but the Queen spoke to no one but Prince Albert,with a word or two to the Duke of Norfolk,who was on her right,and is the first peer of the realm.
The dinner was rather quickly despatched,and when the Queen rose we followed her back into the corridor.She walked to the fire and stood some minutes,and then advanced to me and enquired about Mr.
Bancroft,his visit to Paris,if he had been there before,etc.Iexpressed,of course,the regret he would feel at losing the honor of dining with Her Majesty,etc.She then had a talk with Lady Palmerston,who stood by my side,then with all the other ladies in succession,until at last Prince Albert came out,soon followed by the other gentlemen.The Prince then spoke to all the ladies,as she had done,while she went in succession to all the gentlemen guests.This took some time and we were obliged to stand all the while.
At last the Queen,accompanied by her Lady in Waiting,Lady Mount Edgcumbe,went to a sofa at the other end of the corridor in front of which was a round table surrounded by arm-chairs.When the Queen was seated Lady Mount Edgcumbe came to us and requested us to take our seats round the table.This was a little prim,for I did not know exactly how much I might talk to others in the immediate presence of the Queen,and everybody seemed a little constrained.
She spoke to us all,and very soon such of the gentlemen as were allowed by their rank,joined us at the round table.Lord Dalhousie came again to my side and I had as pleasant a conversation with him,rather SOTTO VOCE,however,as I could have had at a private house.
At half-past ten the Queen rose and shook hands with each lady;we curtsied profoundly,and she and the Prince departed.We then bade each other good-night,and found our carriages as soon as we chose.
